James Joseph O'Donnell

Carol,

Moville falls within Inishowen civil registration district. There?s no James O?Donnell birth registered there in 1875. However there is a James McDonnell reg in 1875 Vol 12, page 149. O?Donnell and McDonnell are interchangeable as you?ll probably be aware.

Looking for the parents marriage I see an entry for Sarah Burns and one for James McDonnell in Inishowen 1871 Vol 7, page 156. There are other entries on that same page, so I can?t be 100% certain this couple married each other. But it does seem to fit your information. (And there appears to be a match on the rootsireland marriage site, so I?d say this is a strong possibility).

Obviously by obtaining the birth and marriage certificates you?ll be able to determine whether it?s the same family as yours, and their townland in Moville.

 

Elwyn

Carol,

Rootsireland is a subscription site and I don?t have a subscription so I can?t look at the information myself. It has transcripts rather than original records, and doesn?t always contain the full information you get on a birth certificate eg address, father?s occupation etc.

This could be the same birth that I referred you to. Rootsireland are likely to have O?D & McD recorded as interchangeable. That would be normal for Irish records. If you change James O?Donnell to James McDonnell b 1875 on the rootsireland search page, you get the same match information. So I suspect this is the same birth as I referred to previously. And I suspect you are going to find the name is shown as McDonnell on the birth certificate not O?Donnell, should you decide to get it. (I say that?s because it?s listed under McD in the index to Irish civil births on Familysearch and Ancestry, not O?D). Donnell, McDonnell & O?Donnell are all the same name, and you will see records vary between the three in Ireland, according to the whim of the person recording the information. The spelling will often vary slightly too.

You can order a photocopy of the statutory birth certificate from GRO Roscommon for ?4, to see if it matches. http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Apply-for-Certificates.aspx You have to download and print off the form. Then either post or fax it back to them. You can?t e-mail it to them. However if you want them to e-mail the cert to back to you, they will do that, so tick the relevant box. Put the reference details on the form (anywhere). Don?t worry about leaving some boxes blank. As long as GRO have the location, name(s), year, quarter (where there is one), volume and page number they should find it. (Same procedure if you want the marriage I referred to).

You?ll need to try and get some of the statutory certificates at some point to get the family townland, to be sure of tracing the right family, because the surname is so common in that area.

I notice that the rootsireland site appears to have 3 siblings listed for James Joseph. (I can?t access the details without a subscription). Elwyn